


Trick or Treating with Tony

by aviciousunicycle



Category: NCIS
Genre: Babysitting, F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 18:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13886754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aviciousunicycle/pseuds/aviciousunicycle
Summary: Tony volunteers to take his neighbor's grandson trick-or-treating and picks up a companion along the way. What was he supposed to do when he found out that she had never been trick or treating?Written around 10 years ago and posted on FF.net, but I loved the premise so much that I came back to it and gave it a rewrite. Still set way back when, in the better times.





	Trick or Treating with Tony

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [TrickOrTreating with Tony](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/361761) by TheYoungTimpani. 



> I wrote this years and years ago, before I graduated high school back in 2010. So, of course it was... not my best writing. However, I loved the premise so I wanted to revisit it and dress it up a bit. It is still fluffy as all get out, but just remember that this was written at a time when the whole Ziva/Tony leaving storylines were not even sparks in the writers' eyes.

“Grampa! Grampa! He’s here! Open the door! It’s him!” a little boy shouted as he bounced around his grandfather.   
“Okay, Al, okay, I’m going. Give me a break, I’m an old man,” his grandfather chuckled, opening the door.   
“Tony!” the boy shouted, latching himself on the legs of the man at the door.   
“Hey, Alex,” Tony DiNozzo laughed, tossling the boy’s hair. “Hello, Mr. Barton,” he said, shaking the hand of Alex’s grandfather.   
“Good evening, Tony,” Mr. Barton said, “Al’s been waiting for this since he got home from school. You’re sure it’s not any trouble?”   
“None at all,” Tony said with a reassuring smile and a wave of dismissal, “I love trick-or-treating.”   
Alex’s grandmother walked to the door with a Spider-Man mask and a jack o’ lantern pail, “Now, Al, you be good tonight, okay?   
Alex took the mask and pulled it over his head while nodding. “Yes, Gramma,” the boy said, taking the pail from Mrs. Barton’s hands.  
“Alex is never any trouble, Mrs. Barton,” Tony assured her.   
“Thank you again for taking him, Tony,” she said with a smile, “You really didn’t have to.”   
“Say nothing of it,” Tony grinned, “I’ll probably enjoy it as much as he does.”  
“Tony,” Alex begged, tugging on Tony’s arm, “let’s go!”   
“Alright, buddy, let’s go,” Tony waved goodbye to Alex’s grandparents as the boy dashed down the hall.   
Once Tony had the child secured in the backseat and had seated himself behind the steering wheel, the little boy chirped a question, “Where’re we going?”   
“Some of my friends’ houses,” Tony replied.   
“They’ve got candy?”   
“I’m sure they do.”   
“Awesome.”

Tony pulled into an apartment complex and got Alex out of the car and led him up to a door.    
The man knocked and the boy asked, “Tony, who lives here?”   
“Shh,” Tony replied with a wink, pulling out a gorilla mask and pulling it over his head.   
Moments later, a woman opened the door and looked him over, “What do you want, Tony?”   
A muffled mumble came out of the gorilla mask.   
The woman rolled her eyes and said, “What was that?”   
Tony yanked the mask off and shouted, “Candy! Why else would I be knocking on doors on Halloween night?”   
“Because you have finally gone completely insane?” she offered.   
He rolled his eyes, then remembered the real reason he was out that night, “Oh! Where are my manners?”   
“Something I have been asking for years.”   
“Ha ha,” Tony said dryly as he held out his hand, motioning for Alex to join them on Ziva’s step.   
“Kidnapping, Tony?” she said, slyly.    
“Once again, ha ha. This is my neighbor, Alex Barton. Alex, this is my friend, Ziva.”   
“Hi,” said Alex, voice muffled by his Spider-Man mask.   
“Now, Zee-vah,” Tony began, “I know you’re new to this whole Halloween business, but this is the point where you usually give candy to the adorable child on your doorstep.”

“The adorable child usually says something first, does he not?”   
Alex took the cue perfectly and happily shouted, “Trick or treat!”   
Ziva smirked and handed Alex candy for his pail.   
“How did you know that?” Tony demanded.   
She laughed, “I know more than you might think.”   
“Have you ever been trick-or-treating?”   
Ziva paused and pursed her lips, “No.”   
Tony’s face lit up like a flood light, “That’s it!” He grabbed her wrist and began dragging her behind him toward the car, “Come on, Alex!”  
After dragging her feet all down the sidewalk, she actually took a seat in the car with minimal resistance. “Where are we going, Tony?   
“McGee’s is closest,” he said, checking the rear-view mirror to see Alex smiling brightly.

They got to McGee’s apartment complex and Tony put the mask back on. He and Alex ran up to the building, Tony and his longer legs reaching the door first. He pressed himself right against the door and rang the bell.   
When McGee innocently opened the door, Tony jumped and shouted like an angry ape.    
Of course, McGee nearly jumped out of his skin. “Damn it, Tony! What the hell’s wrong with you?” the younger agent shouted.   
Tony pulled off the mask, revealing a mischievous smile. “Hey! Watch your language! There is a  _ child  _ present!” he ordered, pointing to Alex who was standing behind him and laughing.   
“Where’d you get him from?” McGee asked, raising an eyebrow, “Kidnapping? Or an illegitimate son for the love machine?”   
“Shut up, Probie,” Tony snapped, “This is my neighbor, Alex.” He jerked his thumb in the direction of his car and said, “I did kidnap her, though.”   
McGee looked in the direction his coworker had pointed and said, “Ziva?”   
“Yeah,” she said, rolling her eyes at Tony, “he literally pulled me into his car.”   
Tony snorted sarcastically.   
Alex, who had been quietly observing the adults’ discussion, stepped forward and spoke, “Trick or treat!”   
McGee smiled down at the boy, “Hey! Spider-Man! I love Spider-Man!” He dropped some candy into Alex’s bucket.   
Alex smiled at the candy then back up at McGee, “Thank you, Mr. Probie!”   
McGee’s head snapped around to glare at Tony, “What did he just call me?”   
Tony put his hands up in a defensive pose, “He’s only a kid, McGee.”   
“Tony,” McGee growled.  
“Okay, time to go,” Tony said with a grin as he grabbed Ziva’s and Alex’s arms and led them back to the car.

“Tony?” Alex chirped.   
“Yeah, bud?”   
“Why did he get so mad when I called him ‘Mr. Probie’?”   
“Who?”   
“That guy back there?”   
“Oh, McGee? Because it’s his nickname.”   
“But Al and Alex are my nicknames and I like them.”   
“That’s the name that Tony uses when he teases McGee,” Ziva tried to explain.   
“Oh,” Alex said, thinking for a moment, “So is it mean?”   
Tony quickly responded, “Nah.”   
Which earned him a “Tony!” from his passenger in the front.   
“Well, it isn’t!” Tony protested.   
“It is not exactly  _ nice _ , is it?”   
Tony shuffled his feet, “No.”   
“Alex, everyone else calls him McGee. That’s his real name, okay?” Ziva said as Tony made his way around to the front of the car.  
“Okay!” Alex said, smiling.

Tony pulled the car up to a house with black lights blinking in the windows, skull decals plastered to the door, and no less than six jack o’ lanterns lining the steps.  
“Tony, this house looks scary,” Alex whimpered as he looked out the window.   
“Nah, come on,” Tony said, looking at Alex in the mirror, “you’ll love her.”   
“Tony, is this Abby’s house?” Ziva asked.   
“Yeah, why?”   
“I am not going.”   
“Why?”   
“You know Abby. She will see us together and get the wrong idea. Who knows what rumor will be going around at work on Monday.”   
“You’re coming.”   
“No. I’m not.”   
“Ziva David, if I have to  _ carry  _ you out of this car  _ you are coming _ . Then what would Abby think?”  
They both stared at each other defiantly until Alex stuck his head between them, looking shyly at Ziva. In a soft voice, he said, “If I have to go, so do you.”  
Tony grinned triumphantly and Ziva threw her hair back in a dramatic groan.

Once out of the car, Alex scurried over to Ziva’s side and grabbed her hand, looking up at her with a nervous expression.   
She gave him a reassuring smile as Tony came over to pick the boy up and perch Alex on his shoulders.   
“Come on, buddy, let’s get some candy,” Tony smiled, jogging up to Abby’s door.   
Tony knocked and it was barely a second before Abby threw it open and shouted, “Finally! Trick-or-treaters! Oh! Hey, Tony! Who’s this?”   
“Don’t you recognize Spider-Man when you see him, Abbs?” Tony laughed.   
Alex began squirming, so Tony returned him to the ground. As soon as the boy’s feet hit the pavement, he dashed to hide behind Ziva’s legs.   
“Ziva! I didn’t see you!” Abby squealed before fixing the other woman with a conspiratorial gaze, “What are you doing out… with Tony?”   
“See!” Ziva shouted glaring at Tony.  
Tony shook his head and grinned, “Get over it!”   
“I was kidnapped,” Ziva smiled at Abby, “Someone had to prevent Tony from corrupting future generations.”   
“Speaking of,” Abby began, “who is this?”   
“Tony’s neighbor, Alex,” Ziva said, reaching down to put a reassuring hand on the back of Alex’s head.    
“Aww,” Abby said, kneeling down to the boy’s level, “Hey, Alex. I’m Abby. Don’t you want to come out and get some candy?”   
Alex looked shyly from Abby to Tony to Ziva who gave him a small smile and nod. The boy took a step forward and said, “Trick or treat.”   
“Awesome!” Abby said, smiling big and holding out a bowl of candy so that Alex could pick out whatever he wanted.   
“Thank you,” the boy said, as he picked out several candies.   
“You are most definitely welcome. And I’m sorry if I scared you.”   
Alex grinned, “Nothing scares me, I’m Spider-Man.”   
“That’s right,” Abby said, reflecting Alex’s defiant grin.   
She stood back up and looked at Tony, “I like him. You should bring him around more often.”  
Tony smiled, but before he could say anything, he heard Alex shouting.    
“Come on! Let’s go! I need more candy!” the boy giggled and pulled on Ziva’s wrist.   
“I think we should go, Tony,” Ziva said with a laugh in her voice.   
“Yeah,” he said, smiling at the pair, “alright. Bye, Abbs.”   
“Bye, Abby!” called both Ziva’s and Alex’s voices.  
“Bye, guys! Have fun! Happy Halloween!”

“How many more houses, Tony? It’s freezing out there,” Ziva asked, once they were back in the car.   
“Two. Why didn’t you wear a jacket?”  
“I didn’t know I would be going anywhere,” she said dryly.   
“Oh, yeah. Here, take mine,” he offered, taking his jacket off and passing it over the console.  
“Are you sure?” she asked, taking it from him.   
“Yeah, I’m wearing a sweater,” he said, shrugging.   
“Okay, thanks,” she said, pulling on his jacket, which was much too big for her, leaving the sleeves covering her hands.

They pulled up to a house and they could hear the faint sound of dogs barking.   
“Ducky?” Ziva asked.   
“Yep,” Tony replied with a smile.   
When they got out of the car, Alex took off running to the door.   
“Sure, now he runs!” Tony huffed, throwing his arms into the air. Ziva laughed loudly.   
Alex rang the doorbell and an elderly woman opened the door. Two corgis bolted out the door and chased one another around the front yard.   
“Why, hello there. Why are you here?” the woman questioned in a thick Scottish accent.   
“Mother!” Ducky shouted, stepping into the doorway, “You’ve already scared away eight children.  _ Please _ , do  _ not  _ answer the door.” He turned to the boy in the doorway and said, “Good evening.”   
“Trick or treat,” Alex said, holding up his pail.   
Ducky placed some candy in the container and looked around outside, “Don’t tell me that you’re out all alone.”   
“No, sir,” Alex said, shaking his head.   
“Well, then, who are you with?”   
“Hey, Ducky,” Tony waved, standing just out of the light of the Mallard home.   
“Good evening, Ducky,” Ziva waved from beside Tony.   
“Oh, Anthony, Ziva, I didn’t see you there. Wherever did you manage to find such a polite young man?” Ducky said, waving.   
“He’s my neighbor, Alex,” Tony explained.   
“Oh,” Ducky said, “and you’re chaperoning him this evening?”   
Tony nodded, “He lives with his grandparents. They don’t like staying out too late, so I told them that I could do it.”   
“That is very kind of you, Anthony, but how did Ziva get involved in all of this?”   
“Tony kidnapped me,” she explained simply.   
“Oh,” Ducky said, looking between the pair, obviously confused.   
“She’d never been trick-or-treating! Can you believe that?!” Tony exclaimed, gesturing wildly.  
“The customs in America are not the same as customs around the world, my boy,” Ducky said with a shrug and a smile.  
“Oh, Donald! Where are the scraps? The dogs are hungry!” Ducky’s mother called from inside the house.   
“Mother, the dogs are out here!” Ducky shouted back, “Sorry, but I had best go before Mother puts leftover corned beef in my begonias again.” Ducky grinned and waved as the corgis ran into the house and he closed the door behind them.   
Alex came up and tugged on Tony’s sweater, Tony picked him up.    
“Why did you call him ‘ducky’?” Alex asked as they began heading back to the car.   
“That’s his nickname,” Tony answered.   
“He likes his nickname?” Alex asked, looking at Ziva.   
“Yes,” she replied.    
“Is he your grampa?”   
“Sort of.”  
“How can someone be ‘sort of’ your grampa?”   
“He acts like our grandfather, but he really is not,” Ziva explained.   
Alex nodded and looked like he was in deep thought.   
“Any more pressing questions, sir?” Tony asked, putting Alex into the car.   
Alex shook his head.  
“How many more houses, Tony?” Alex asked with a yawn.   
“Just one more,” Tony said with an encouraging tone, “Don’t fall asleep on us now, buddy.”   
“Who?” Ziva asked, narrowing her eyes.  
They shared a long look that was interrupted when Ziva exclaimed, “No! Tony, you are out of your mind! There is no way that we are going to Gibbs’s house!”   
He answered simply, “Yes. We are.”

When they reached Gibbs’s house, Tony ran ahead, but Alex fell back and shuffled sleepily alongside Ziva.   
“Are you tired, Alex?” she asked.   
He nodded drowsily.   
“Would you like me to carry you?”   
“P- please,” he said as he yawned once more.   
She picked him up, balanced him on her hip, and jogged to catch up with Tony who was knocking on the door.  
Gibbs opened the door and looked skeptically at Tony.  
“Hey Boss, trick or treat,” he said with a grin.  
“Haven’t you outgrown this yet, DiNozzo?” Gibbs growled.   
“Maybe,” Tony smiled before motioning toward Ziva and Alex, “but he hasn’t.”   
Gibbs looked between Tony and Ziva, then smacked Tony on the back of the head.   
“What was that for?!” Tony exclaimed.   
“Kidnapping,” Gibbs stated flatly.   
“Alex is my neighbor and I did not kidnap him!” Tony shouted indignantly.  
“You did kidnap me,” Ziva chimed in.   
Gibbs smacked Tony once again, “What wa--”   
“Rule 12.”   
“We haven’t--”   
Tony was silenced by a glare from Gibbs.   
Alex yawned hig and Ziva spoke up, “Tony.”   
“Yeah, it’s about time to get him home,” Tony conceded.   
“Well?” Gibbs said.   
“Well, what?” Tony asked, looking confused.   
“Well, bring him up here so he can get some candy,” Gibbs said.  
“Oh,” Ziva replied, bringing Alex up to their boss.  
“Trick or treat,” Alex said groggily.  
Gibbs put some candy in the boy’s pail and said, “Hey, you keep an eye on these two, okay?”   
Alex nodded and Ziva looked at Gibbs in disbelief.    
“Well, Boss, we better get going,” Tony said.  
“Yeah,” Ziva agreed.

They began to walk back to the car when Gibbs called, “Hey! DiNozzo!”   
“Yeah, Boss?”  
“Don’t mess up a good thing.”   
Tony stood still for a moment, trying to process what his boss had just said. He looked up to respond, but Gibbs had gone back inside. Then he turned to the car, watching Ziva fastening Alex into the back seat. He couldn’t help but smile.  
This was a good thing, wasn’t it?  
He got in the car and they drove back toward his apartment. 

“Hey, it’s still early for us, wanna go back to my place and watch a movie?” he asked.   
She thought for a second and replied, “Sure.”  
He grinned from ear to ear.   
They got back to Tony’s apartment complex and Ziva looked back at Alex.    
“Tony, he’s out like a lamp.”   
“Out like a  _ light _ , Ziva.”   
“Whatever. He’s asleep.”   
“Give me a second,” Tony pulled out his cell phone and made a short call, then returned to Ziva, “He’s staying with me tonight.”   
Tony picked Alex up and carried him up to his apartment, finding a small bag of Alex’s clothing hanging from his doorknob.

Once inside, Tony placed Alex in his bed, then he joined Ziva on the couch. They picked out a movie, by the end of which, they were very drowsy.   
Tony spoke softly, “Hey, your car’s not here and I can’t leave Alex here by himself to drive you home, so why don’t you just stay the night?”  
She thought about it, before finally yawning, “Okay.”  
“Tony?” she spoke again in a voice that was not only quiet, but a little shy, not something he expected to hear in his partner’s voice.   
“Yeah?”   
“I had a great time tonight. Thanks for taking me.”   
Tony didn’t know what came over him, it was probably mostly that the sensible part of his mind had fallen asleep long ago, whatever the case, he leaned over and lightly pressed his lips against Ziva’s.  
The rational part of her mind must have fallen asleep, too, because her only reaction was to look at him with a bright smile. Their eyes finding one another’s and smiling dopily until they heard the slapping sound of small feet running into the living room.  
Alex leapt into Ziva’s lap and Tony tousled his hair, asking, “What are you doing out of bed, bud?”   
“That man told me to keep an eye on you two,” Alex said, voice still thick and betraying his exhaustion.  
“What are you keeping an eye out for?” Ziva asked, smiling.   
Alex thought about it for a moment before saying, “I don’t know… but I’ll know when I see it.”  
Tony and Ziva chuckled a bit, then Tony picked up Alex and asked, “Isn’t that costume itchy? Your grandma brought you some pajamas to change into.”   
He sat Alex down and handed him the pajamas that were in the bag. The boy took the clothes and ran to the bathroom to change.   
“So much for being tired, huh?” Ziva shrugged.   
“It’s just a front. He’s still tired… and so are you,” he added watching her yawn. “I’ve got some sweatpants and a t-shirt you can change into, if you’d like,” he offered.   
She nodded and he went to fetch them. After Alex came out of the bathroom, she went in to change.

Alex padded into the living room and over to Tony, who had returned to the couch. The boy climbed into Tony’s lap and looked up at him, “Is Ziva staying, too?”   
“Yep.”   
“She’s nice.”   
“She can me.”   
“And she’s pretty.”   
“Oh, yeah, she is,” Tony said with a grin.  
“I like her, too. She reminds me of my mama… You like her, too, don’t you? But you like her different.”   
“Different?”  
“You don’t like her like… a kid likes their mama. You like her like a… a girlfriend.”   
“What?”   
“You act different around her.”   
“What do you mean?”   
“I don’t know. Just different. She makes you laugh and makes your smile funny. Do you like her?”  
Tony thought for a moment before saying, “Yeah. I… I do.”   
“You do what?” Ziva asked, exiting the bathroom.  
“Uhh,” Tony stuttered before saying, “I do need to go change into some pajamas.”   
He helped Alex out of his lap and dashed off to change clothes before he had a chance to say something in front of Ziva.

When he left, Ziva took his place on the couch and Alex climbed into her lap.   
She ran her fingers through his fine hair and the little boy smiled at the feeling of her hands on his scalp, it reminded him of something he thought he remembered his mother doing to help him sleep when he was very little.    
“I like you,” Alex said.   
“Thank you, Alex,” Ziva said with a smile, “I like you, too.”   
“I like you ‘cause you remind me of my mama,” the boy continued, “Not like how Tony likes you.”   
Her hand froze for a moment before she decided to play along with the boy and see what he and Tony had talked about while she was gone, “How does Tony like me?”   
“Like a girlfriend,” Alex said simply.   
“What?” Ziva asked in disbelief.   
“Yep. You make him act different. He smiles funny and laughs funny around you.  _ And  _ he thinks you’re pretty.”   
“He does, does he?” she said with a grin, “Well, you know what?”   
“What?” Alex said, returning her smile.  
“I like him, too.”  
Tony came out of the bathroom, yawning, “Hey, guys, let’s hit the hay. I’m beat.”   
Ziva paused in the living room as Alex stood up.    
Tony nodded at her, motioning with his head toward his bedroom, silently inviting her to join him.    
Alex reached back and tugged her hand, his invitation slightly less subtle. She reached down to pick up the little boy and carried him to Tony’s room.   
The three climbed into bed with Alex wedged between Tony and Ziva. He made eye contact with her over the boy’s head and gave a little smile that made her feel sure that this is where she was supposed to be.


End file.
